Advertising in the Age of Ad-Blockers

Once you’ve worked with your WordPress agency to design and build your business site, the next step is marketing it. Getting the word out there that your brand exists is imperative to success, which is why most business owners (correctly) put so much emphasis on creating a stellar advertising strategy. However, the type of advertising you choose to utilise is just as important as the content of the adverts themselves. As ad-blockers continue to grow in popularity and Google penalises sites who use annoying pop-ups ads, the advertising landscape is beginning to shift.

Let’s face it, none of us like to visit a website only to be confronted by a barrage of pop ups and garish ads that do not other than ruin our user experience. That’s the key phrase to remember here: user experience. It should be kept in the forefront of your mind when creating your advertising strategy and at a base level you can think about how you react personally to different types of advertising. If it doesn’t add some value to your user’s browsing experience then think twice before running it. If there’s no benefit to them then why would they click on the ad? Ideally, they need to learn something, be intrigued by something or receive some other benefit when they click on your advert.

In today’s post we’re going to look at alternative forms of advertising that move away from pop ups and other distracting visuals and instead focus on valuable content, collaborations and campaigns that can help generate interest in your business in a more meaningful, long-term way. Aside from the usual billboard, magazine and radio ads, here are a few other methods that you might not have considered adding to your advertising strategy.

Influencer Sponsorships: Influencer marketing has soared in popularity in recent years and for good reason. Consumers form personal relationships with many influencers in their chosen field of interest and visit their website, social media or YouTube channel to get trusted advice on everything from products to services to holidays. Find the influencers in your industry and start to build a relationship with them. If you think they would genuinely be a good fit for your product then reach out to them (or their management, if applicable) and propose some ways you could work together. Don’t forget that sponsored content must be declared in the correct manner by both yourself and the influencer in question, as per ASA regulations.

Event Sponsorships: What better place to advertise your brand than in front of hundreds or thousands of potential customers at an industry event? Almost all events and conventions have sponsorship slots, which may lead to your brand name being listed listed on banners, flyers or online content, potentially being seen by thousands of pairs of eyes.

Affiliates: Affiliate marketing isn’t strictly advertising but it’s a great way to open up your product to a wider audience, perhaps an audience you wouldn’t be able to secure on your own. There are many affiliate schemes you can sign up to that will let affiliate marketers list your product on their site to be promoted to their site visitors. If a purchase comes as a result of their promotion they’ll receive a small commission, a fair price to pay for the increased exposure affiliate marketing can bring.

Social Media Advertising: Depending on your industry, social media advertising is certainly something that has a place in many advertising strategies. Find out where your customers (and potential customers) are and utilise these platforms in your ad campaigns. Most social media platforms have their own advertising framework that allows you to target specific demographics, locations, interests, or even use remarketing to reach those who have already expressed an interest in your business.

*

There are many other advertising platforms out there aside from traditional pop-ups and banner ads that are ready and waiting to be included in your future marketing campaigns. We hope the four listed above have inspired you to round out your strategy with other forms of advertising you may not have considered before. We’d love to hear more about your experiences advertising with any of the methods we mentioned today, so don’t hesitate to leave us a comment below.